Founded in 1993 by brothers Tom and David Gardner, The Motley Fool helps millions of people attain financial freedom through our website, podcasts, books, newspaper column, radio show, and premium investing services.

After being effectively left for dead no less than two years, shares of French-American telecom giant Alcatel Lucent(NYSE: ALU) can do no wrong these days.

Since bottoming in late 2012, Alcatel Lucent's stock has surged more than 300%. And in the wake of its recent earnings beat, Alcatel's shares notched yet another major gain.

The road ahead for AlcatelAlcatel's progress has been hard to ignore under new leader Michel Combes.

Source: Alcatel Lucent

The key driver in directing Alcatel Lucent's turnaround has been Combes' Shift plan. Under the Shift plan, Alcatel will make a concerted push to become a more efficient company by eliminating unprofitable contracts, asset divestitures, and doing employee layoffs through 2015.

However, going forward, the long-term competitive dynamic in Alcatel's industry remains somewhat tenuous. Unfortunately, Alcatel operates in an industry that favors larger competitors like Ericsson and Huawei. On the other hand, Alcatel's more efficient business should enable it to challenge the larger player in its industry, as well.

What should investors make of Alcatel's prospects in the years ahead? In the video below, tech and telecom analyst Andrew Tonner weighs in on Alcatel's likely course going forward, and what it could mean for investors.